Business

Need a discount from JPS

Tell Claudienne

I have been receiving estimated electricity bills from August 2016 until now (June 30, 2018). I have called the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) numerous times but there has been no resolution to the problem. I know that I am supposed to receive a discount for continuous estimation but they have stopped giving that as well.

On October 30, 2017 I sent the JPS the following letter:

“Concerning my account the meter has been estimated from August 2016 until the most recent reading for October 2017.

The meter was removed from my premises and placed in a central box on the JPS poles. This was done for the entire Vineyard Town community. So gone are the days of complaints about dogs/animals preventing the meters from being read. You can safely do it from your offices.

However, after that supposed upgrade this lengthy estimation has been happening.

I have been contacting the customer service department every month for them to rectify the situation but the matter has not been resolved.

The customer service agents have made comments such as:

“Technical service personnel did a visit and on the report submitted said that they can't find the meter.”

“It's an issue with the electronic meter located on the JPS poles and it's too costly for the business to fix.”

If they can't find the meter what am I being billed for and where am I getting electricity from??

Furthermore, under the law, if I receive two consecutive estimated readings I should receive an EGS7 breach rebate on my bill for the past couple months. However, I have not received the discount.

I was told by the agent that I need to call the JPS prior to the bills being generated and I have called the company. However the electricity company has discontinued the rebate.

Could you please look into this issue for me?

JC

Dear JC

The Tell Claudienne column raised your concerns with the JPS and on August 24, 2018 the JPS manager investigating your complaint, sent the column the following e-mail:

“I have initiated an investigation into what is happening with this account. The Field Services team has given a commitment to visit the location and find out what is going on. I will stay on it and get back to you with a response shortly.”

Then on August 28, 2018 a further e-mail sent by the JPS to Tell Claudienne stated: ”I received a report yesterday that a team visited JC's premises (yesterday) but were unable to access the premises as it was locked. They said they called her number; however, the calls went to voicemail.

They have indicated that they will make another attempt once they make contact with the customer and make the arrangements.

Your community in Vineyard Town is one of the areas where the JPS has established the Residential Automated Meter Infrastructure (RAMI) that enables the meters to be read remotely. However, from time to time the JPS experiences “communication issues” with the system, the column has learnt.

Tell Claudienne has continued to follow up this matter and notes that after a lot of back and forth and several attempts by the JPS team to arrange a time suitable to both of you for them to visit your premises and find the source of the problem, you are now receiving the rebate.

The JPS told Tell Claudienne on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 the following:

“The investigation/inspection was completed in November 2018 and JC is now receiving actual bills. An adjustment was also done on the account. There is a credit balance on the account for -$159,259.00. This is the amount remaining following the deduction of her most recent bill (with an actual reading) which was $12,168.38.

JC should have already received this bill.”

We wish you all the best.

JTC pension is lacking

Dear Claudienne

I was an employee of the Jamaica Telephone Company (JTC) for 30 years in the Operator Services Department as a telephone operator. I was made redundant in 1999. At that time, we were not advised what had to be done in order for us to receive the NIS pension when the time came.

You see for most of us at that time, pension was in the distant future.

However, when I became eligible for NIS pension and started collecting it I became aware of a discrepancy in my payments.

I am the agent for a friend who also worked at the JTC and was made redundant at the same time as me. Although she had the same number of years of service at the same level as me, the NIS pension benefit she is receiving is more than the NIS payments I receive.

When I raised a query with the NIS, I was told that there were some missing years (five) for which they received no returns. The years the NIS said were 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 & 1975.

I had never broken my years of service with the telephone company and I was not on a contract. I was a permanent employee.

On several occasions, I called the Human Resources Department representative at the company and they promised to check and get back to me.

The last update I got some months ago was that they would have to check the archives, but I have heard nothing since.

Can you help me, please?

DMO

Dear DMO

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the JTC and the missing years for which your contributions were not sent to the NIS office have been located. However the NIS number on your contributions for those missing years is different from your current NIS number.

The NIS Heroes Circle office has informed Tell Claudienne that your current NIS number is the correct one.

We note that the payroll office has prepared a letter for you to take to the NIS office. The letter contains your gross salary for each of the five years, the number of weeks in each of the five years and the contributions made by you to the NIS each week.

Now you can read the Jamaica Observer ePaper anytime, anywhere. The Jamaica Observer ePaper is available to you at home or at work, and is the same edition as the printed copy available at http://bit.ly/epaperlive

ADVERTISEMENT

POST A COMMENT

HOUSE RULES

1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website
or in the newspaper ï¿½ email addresses will not be published.

2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been
submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic
under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.